Four Times
by twilightstargazer
Summary: Four times where James and Lily spend July thirty first together. Oneshot. J/L


_**A/N: Just a little one shot for this special day. I apologise in advance for any errors. I'm not exactly well, so I'm sure that I missed a few. If you find any, let me know and I'll fix it.**_

* * *

_July 31__st__ 1979_

An explosion rocks every particle of your body. The sound reverberates in your skull and you find yourself being thrown backwards in to a wall by the sheer force of it. Your ears are ringing, the air is clouded with dust and smoke and flashes of light from surrounding duels along with the scent of ozone, the scent of raw, unbridled power with the subtle undertones of the coppery smell of blood.

You are covered in dust, grime and blood- a mixture of your own, friends' and foes'. Struggling to your feet, you keep you wand tightly clasped in your hands, and start to move back in to the fray. You stun a nearby cloaked figure who was furiously duelling with Marlene McKinnon and send him toppling to the floor. It continues like that, the Order members engaged in a heated battle with the Death Eaters, and spells flying everywhere, some more deadly than others. Blood is flowing freely on both sides as the fight continues. This fight in Diagon Alley is the most savage one that has ever taken place.

You continue fighting, with one sole intention: finding Lily. As soon as the two you apparated here the fight was already going on, full steam ahead and the minute your feet touched the ground, the two of you were locked in battle. That was the last you saw her and you won't deny that you're scared.

You find her eventually, holding her own against two Death Eaters. She has a cut on her eyebrow and grime smeared all over her face but she seems fine otherwise. Her face is blazing, akin to the likes of an avenging angel, as she easily takes down the two men, stunning them and tying them up for the aurors to whisk away to Azkaban. You breathe a sigh of relief once you see that she's fine, but that sigh does not last long as a killing curse barely misses your shoulder. You turn around, trying to find your attacker, when you are suddenly grabbed from behind.

The Death Eater has his wand wrapped tightly around your throat, pressing on your windpipe. You claw at his hands but it does not work. Your wand clatters out of your hand as you struggle against him. Eventually, you cause the two of you to topple to the ground, rolling several times before coming to a stop. During the fall he relinquished his hold on your neck and you manage to gain the upper hand, but only just. You don't have your wand, so you take the muggle approach and punch him, evidently breaking his nose. The Death Eater hisses and points his wand at you.

"_Avada_-"

"_Stupefy!_" a voice cries out. A jet of red flies over your shoulder and hit the Death Eater squarely in the chest causing him to slump forward. You turn around to see Lily standing a few paces away, her wand outstretched and emerald fire blazing in her eyes.

"Thanks," you say. She nods and tosses you your wand.

"Lucky I'm here to save your little arse, Potter," she says from behind you as she sends a stinging hex straight at another cloaked figure.

You laugh, dodging a hex that ricocheted off a wall. "Don't lie Evans, you like my arse."

She merely hummed in response and the two of you stood back to back taking on any Death Eater that dare come your way. You honestly don't know how long the battle raged on; to you it felt like hours, but in reality it may have only been a few minutes. Each side was only equal footing, which was not necessarily a positive thing. Instead, it made each side redouble their efforts. As of now, you can say that you and Lily have a bit of a higher standing, taking down more Death Eaters than you could count, but it didn't come without its repercussions. You have a gash that ran down the length of your forearm that was bleeding profusely and Lily must have broken, or at the very least sprained, her ankle.

Unexpectedly, all of the Death Eaters got the same type of slightly pained expression and disapparated, leaving only Order members in the Alley, tired, injured and confused. An eerie silence descended upon you all.

"What-" began Moody, but he never got to finish that sentence as another explosion rocked the alley. You and Lily stumble. All of a sudden, you notice cracks developing in a nearby wall and only had enough time to yell out 'Move!' before the entire thing explodes, sending brick flying everywhere. You manage to pull Lily down to the floor, getting hit by a piece of shrapnel in the process.

Out of the newly formed hole emerged a figure dressed in all black. He was pallid and there were dark circles under his eyes, which were tinted red and had a manic look in them. He possessed several snake like similarities and you suck in a breath. You may have never seen him in real life, but you know exactly who that is.

Voldemort.

You pulled Lily further in to the shadows, trying to hide her behind you.

"You all have fought so valiantly," he speaks softly. There isn't a single Order member in sight, but you would bet anything that he knows exactly where each one of you is hiding.

"But that does not matter, as it is all in vain," he continues. "However, the courage can be put to good use shall you come over to right side." He turned about, surveying the aftermath of the battle with cool eyes and an indifferent expression. "McKinnon," he whispers, stopping in front of where you know Marlene is hidden. "You're a strong, powerful witch. Why don't you come over and we can put that power to good use?"

"No," she replies sternly.

He hums something in response and continues, twirling his wand around in his hands. "What about you, Sirius? There are several of you family members sympathetic to my cause. Including your brother, although I hear that you are substantially more powerful than Regulas," he continues conversationally.

You clench your jaw and close your eyes, hoping that Sirius doesn't rise to the bait. After several moments of silence, he finally moved on.

"Pity," he murmured. "None of you are willing to join?" He continued walking around. "Longbottom and Potter." You stiffen. "You both come from an impressive pureblood linage. And from what I hear, quite powerful as well. What's your take on this?"

"Never," you say, congratulating yourself on keeping your voice steady and neutral.

"I see; what about your pet? The mudblood?" he asks, finally turning towards you. "Quite talented... fairly powerful as well. Think before you speak mudblood; I am not going to offer this again."

"I will never join your cause," Lily spat.

Voldemort looked around the street disdainfully. "Pity. I would have liked to spare the amount of magical blood that would have to be spilt." He pointed his wand at where you and Lily are standing. "Does anyone have any last minute decisions? No? Well, I'm just going to have to show you what happens to people who defy Lord Voldemort. Let's start with the mudblood. Come here mudblood."

You have your hands wrapped firmly around Lily's wrist to stop her from going.

"James," she whispers, looking at you. You know the look in her eyes. It's the look that says 'I have to do this.' Regrettably, you let her go and watch as she walked towards him, back straight and head held high as she looked at Voldemort directly in the eye. You don't dare to breathe.

He looks at her appraisingly. "Are you sure you don't want to join me?"

"I'll join you when hell freezes over," she snarls. You wince when he flicks his wand and sends a stinging hex at her.

"Insolent girl," he hisses, flicking his wand again. You can't help yourself anymore. You run out in to the open wand drawn. He smiles vindictively once he sees you there.

"What are you doing here Tom?" a pleasant voice asks. The three of you turn around to see Dumbledore climbing out of the hole that Voldemort blasted in the wall.

"Dumbledore," he sneers.

"Hello Tom," the older wizard greets.

The two of them continue talking, wands out just waiting on the other one to say the first spell. Once you're sure that Voldemort is too enraptured to notice, you grab Lily and pull her back in to the safety of the shadows. She's shaking. Dumbledore and Voldemort don't even cast a single spell. Instead, Dumbledore simply whispers something causing the other wizard to sneer and disapparate.

Looking towards Dumbledore, you see him nod imperceptibly and you too disapparate with Lily at your side.

* * *

_July 31__st__ 1980_

A year ago you were duelling in Diagon Alley and met Voldemort face to face. That would be the first of three times, in which the last, you barely escaped with your life. Now, you and Lily have been in hiding since April, a few months after the two of you realised that you were expecting a baby. Apparently a prophecy had been made that concerned your unborn child. Now, the two of you weren't even going to Order meetings and Dumbledore advised you to have the birth at home, with Marlene McKinnon present as she was a certified healer.

Lily screamed again, holding on tightly to your hands as another contraction ripped through her body. At the foot of the bed Marlene was coaxing her to push while you were mumbling words trying to calm her down in her hair.

"I hate you, Potter," she snaps through gritted teeth, pushing the tangled curls out of her face. You repress a chuckle. In the last hour or so, those sentiments had become quite familiar to you. It seemed that nearly everything you did at this point made her angry and state in a very precise way what she was going to do to you when all of this was over. So now, you simply settled for holding her and whispering 'I know, I know,' repeatedly throughout the ordeal.

"Come on Lily," says Marlene, excitedly. "I see a head; you're nearly there."

"I fucking hope so," she growls. "I swear to Merlin, if this child ever gives me any trouble I am going to tell him what hell I had to go through to get him into this world."

"Him'?" you ask her, raising an eyebrow. "You still think it's going to be a boy?" She nods, wiping her hand across her face and grimacing. "I think it's going to be a girl."

"I don't give a damn about what you think because you don't have to go through all of this fucking pain!" she snaps as she pushed again.

"Ms Evans, do you want the sound of your cursing to be the first thing your child hears when she enters this world?" you tease. She elbows you in the stomach.

"Shut up, Potter."

"Nearly there, Lils," says Marlene. "You're nearly done."

And she was. Within the next ten minutes the sound of crying filled the air as the new baby Potter came into the world, with Marlene announcing that it was a boy. Lily slumped against the bed and gave a weary smile. With her mass of tangled red curls and sweaty self, you thought she never looked more beautiful and leant over to give her a quick peck as Marlene quickly cleaned him and Lily up, swaddling him in a blanket before passing him to Lily.

"Congratulations, Mummy Potter," she smiles. "I'm just going to clean up; I'll be back in a mo'." She left you all in the room.

"I told you it was a boy," she says softly, looking up at you. Meanwhile, you were staring in shook at the little bundle.

"He's so tiny," you blurt out. She light slaps your arm.

"Of course he's tiny; he's a baby."

"Argh," you wince. "He got stuck with my hair. Poor kid."

Lily chuckled. "At least he's not a girl stuck with your hair. Imagine how that would have turned out. Now we just need to wait to see whose eyes he gets."

"I bet it's yours," you say, smiling at her.

"You also thought that he was going to be a girl," she teases. You can't help it; you lean down and kiss her again. Resting her forehead against yours, she says, "What should we name him?"

"How about Harry?" you suggest, looking at the small body enclosed in her hands. He had opened his eyes and was now staring at you with a peculiar expression.

"Harry James Potter..." she murmurs. "I like it. Here," she eases the baby into your arms. "Hold him for a second."

You were afraid that you might drop him. He was that tiny.

"Hi Harry," you say, sniffling slightly. "I'm your dad... and well, you've already met your mum. Sorry for the hair, kid."

Lily laughs. "Is the great James Potter getting teary over a little baby?" she teases.

"Shut up," you mumble, feeling your ears turn red. "I just have something in my eye."

"Uh huh. That thing is called tears."

You stick out your tongue at her. That just causes her to laugh even more and lay her head on his shoulder.

"You're going to be a great dad you know," she says, still partially lying on him. Harry meanwhile had one of her fingers gripped tightly in his chubby little hands.

"And you're going to be the best mum ever," you say, kissing her forehead. At that moment, Marlene walks back in, this time accompanied by Sirius.

"I thought you'd want him to know," she says before holding up a camera. "And that you'd want a picture." She took a photo of them on the bed, with James holding Harry.

"Never thought I'd see the day where Prongs would be a dad," Sirius says, walking up to the bed.

"Shut up Padfoot."

"Move over you great lump; I want to see my godson," he says, pushing your shoulder. Without a word, you hand over the small body to Sirius, who immediately looked completely awestruck.

"He's so... tiny," Sirius says.

"That's the same thing I said!" you reply.

"It's because he's a baby, you idiots," scoffs Lily, rolling her eyes though smiling nonetheless.

"What's his name? Is it Sirius Junior, by chance?" he asks, causing Lily to throw a pillow at him.

"It's Harry, you dog," you laugh. "Harry James Potter."

Sirius hums in response before shouting out, "Oi! Kid's got your hair! Poor sod!"

The three of you burst out laughing, and spend the rest of the evening with Remus, Peter and some of the Order members cooing over the baby.

* * *

_July 31__st__ 1981_

"Come on Harry," coaxes Lily. "Look at Mummy. Look this way, Harry. No- no Harry, don't throw that- Harry, don't throw it- Harry!"

You quickly catch the soft red ball before it could hit the cake and look back at Lily. "He's going to be a bloody good chaser if he keeps on throwing like that," you say proudly, handing your son back his stuffed toy.

Today was his first birthday and you and Lily decided to have a small party. You didn't invite much people; just the other marauders and some of the Order members, like Marlene, the Prewetts, the Longbottoms and a handful of others. Even your old Professor- Professor McGonagall- was here and told them that Dumbledore might even stop by later.

Many of the guests were talking and laughing or cooing over Harry. They were generally having a good time, and that was something that you rarely came about in the war. It had gotten worse, with people going missing everyday and then resurfacing weeks later, either dead or tortured into insanity. The Order was holding its own, but just barely.

You wrap your arm around Lily and place a light kiss on her forehead. In reply, she held up the camera and snaps a picture of you, laughing as you try to blink to bright spots out from your eyes.

"Don't you know I'm blind enough as it is, Evans," you grumble teasingly, slipping of your glasses to rub your eyes.

"Hey Prongs!" Sirius calls from the backyard. "Come here! And bring the little sprog with you!"

You look at Lily and shrug. "I have no idea what he's planning," you say as you gently lift Harry out of his booster seat. You hold him with one hand and open the door in the kitchen that leads out into the small backyard. Lily follows closely behind. You stop dead in your tracks when you see Sirius standing up in front of you, holding a small, toy broomstick in his hands.

A wide grin spreads across your face. "Did you..."

His grin matches yours. "Yep."

"Sirius Black, is that a broomstick for my son?" asks Lily, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

He nodded, still smiling like a loon.

"No, not at all. I'm not letting Harry go on that thing. He might get hurt," she says, glaring at him.

"Come on Lils," you pout. "I had one when I was younger. It's not that dangerous."

She stares at you. "This just re enforces my point that he might get hurt," she says, causing Sirius to snigger.

You shoot him a look. "You're not helping here, Padfoot."

"Lily," whines Sirius. "It's his birthday gift. If you don't let him have it, then he'll end up without a birthday gift from his godfather."

"No."

"Lily."

"No."

"Harry wants to go on it," you say, indicating to the squirming one year old in your arms. You gently rest him on the grass and watch him crawl to the broom, that was simply just hovering a foot above the ground. You turn around and give her a look. "See?"

"I swear to Merlin, Potter, if he gets hurt I'm going to kill you," she says, watching Harry carefully in case he tips over.

"He won't," you assure her. "Those things can't even go that fast and the highest that they go is about three feet."

She nods, though still gnawing her lip in worry as her eyes were trained on him all the time. Harry never actually got onto the broom, but he did try, and ended up slipping off the end, only for Sirius to catch him.

Sirius grinned. "Looks like you're going to need some practice, mate," he told Harry, smiling at him. "Ask your dad to give you lessons. Then, you'll be up and going in no time."

"Absolutely," you say, taking the broom in your hand. You crouch and look Harry straight in the eye. "We'll start tomorrow. No son of mine is going to be a shoddy flier, and, by the time you go to Hogwarts, you'll be on the quidditch team and have its captaincy, just like I did. Who knows, you might even be a better chaser than me," you say, as you get back up again.

"No flying in the house," says Lily. "We don't need anything else broken."

"Deal."

The four of you went back inside. The candles were placed on the cake and lit. Everyone sung a rousing chorus of happy birthday and the cake was cut and shared out. Everyone had a great time and could agree that the highlight of the day was when Harry smeared chocolate frosting all over your face and hair.

* * *

_July 31__st__ 1982_

The war was over and all wizards in Britain, and perhaps the world were rejoicing that finally, Voldemort was gone. Not all were so happy on this day though.

Peter was still in his animagus form, hiding in a barn somewhere up north.

Remus knew what today was. He also knew where Petunia lived, thanks to Lily, and had half the mind to disapparate to Surrey and drop of a little present for Harry. But he also knew that Dumbledore would not approve, so he sat there, in the corner of a dank and dirty little tavern and took the Sirius approach to life. He drank away his sorrows of friends long past.

Sirius was in Azkaban and the mere remembrance of his godson's birthday being today had him in turmoil. He was sure that the muggles where Harry was sent couldn't give a rat's arse about their nephew's birthday. It should have been him with Harry, out there in the world celebrating his second birthday, perhaps with Remus and some other friends and Pettigrew should have been in here for what he did to James and Lily. Sirius unleashed a dry sob, thinking of godson who would never know his parents or him.

And James and Lily? Well, as they did for the last three July 31st s, they spent it together in their cold marble tomb as they will for the rest of forever. Side by side.

And together.

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**_A/N: Liked it? Hated it? Let me know in a review!_**

**_:)  
~Nai_**


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